


The Rockets' Red Glare

by AgtSpooky



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Established Relationship, Holidays, M/M, Season/Series 02
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-07-06
Updated: 2009-07-06
Packaged: 2018-09-03 07:11:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8702419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgtSpooky/pseuds/AgtSpooky
Summary: Growing distant from one another as one hunt turns into another, never having time for just themselves, Sam’s childhood memory of the 4th of July is just what he and Dean need to reconnect.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Note from the Sinful Desire archivists: this story was originally archived at [Sinful-Desire.org](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Sinful_Desire). To preserve the archive, we began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in November 2016. We e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact us using the e-mail address on [Sinful Desire collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/sinfuldesire/profile).

  
**The Rockets’ Red Glare**

By AgtSpooky

 

July 3, 2009

Destination unknown.

 

“Just drive,” Dean had told you before wearily folding himself into the passenger seat of the Impala and closing his eyes.

 

So you started driving.

 

Picked the first road out of town and now here you are, four hours later, in the middle of Iowa cornfields as far as the eye could see. You had the window rolled down to let in the warm summer night air, your left arm propped up on the door. You could just feel the breeze through the layer of bandages that encircled your bicep, protecting the fresh stitches underneath. The gash there nearly matching the one above your eyebrow.

 

You turn to glance at Dean, awake now for the last hour, watching as he shifts uncomfortably in the seat, grimacing as he moves his right leg and shoulder. He’d wrenched them both after getting thrown down a flight of stairs protecting you. Always protecting you.

 

Both of you bruised and bloody – souvenirs from another successful hunt, already looking for the next one, to add to the scars on both your bodies.

 

A never-ending cycle for the last month straight that left you so drained at the end of the day all you could do was fall into bed and into an exhausted sleep. You missed falling into bed with Dean, his warm weight surrounding you, slow kisses until you drifted off, his arms still around you. Then waking up the same way, his mouth gentle on yours, pulling you up from your slumber.

 

There just hadn’t been any time for the two of you in weeks, and your body craved his touch more and more every day. You knew he felt the same, but the job came first. Always the job.

 

The first bright, colorful flash up in the night sky startled you until you realized what it was. Fireworks. The days had all blended together recently that you didn’t know until right now that it was the 4th of July.

 

Another colorful explosion off in the distance and memory suddenly burned sharp and bright inside you.

 

Nebraska. 

 

You were eleven years old, Dean was fifteen, and he was everything to you. He was your hero, your big brother, and he’d do anything for you. Dad was never around, but Dean…he was never far from your side.

 

You’d come home from a friend's house that afternoon and Dad was gone. Normally you’d be pissed that he couldn’t even wait until you got home to say goodbye, to say where he was going, when he’d be back. But today you were actually glad he was gone. It meant you weren’t going to have to try and sneak out later. It meant no sitting at the kitchen table having to learn Latin or clean a gun or sharpen knives. It meant going out and having _fun_. 

 

You’d burst into the small room you shared with Dean, found your brother on his bed, flipping through a well-worn Car and Driver magazine. He’d raised his eyebrows at the small whirlwind that was you.

 

“Dean!”

 

Your brother dropped the magazine onto the mattress. “What the hell’s got you so worked up?”

 

“Did you know they put up a fair this morning in the field across from the library for the 4th of July?”

 

You could see Dean’s mouth twitch, trying to hide his amusement. You knew he knew exactly where you were going with this. But he tried to shrug indifferently, playing with you. “Yeah, so?”

 

“Dean!” you said in exasperation, tugging on the leg of his jeans. “C’mon, let’s go tonight! All the kids were talking about it. About the rides and the food and the games, and they’re gonna have _fireworks_ , too!” you rambled, your excitement growing. 

 

Dean crossed his arms over his chest. “You think I wanna be seen at one of these things with my geeky little brother?” he teased.

 

“ _Please_ , Dean,” you pleaded. “Dad’s never let us go to something like this. And now he’s not here to stop us. He’ll never know! Let’s just go have _fun_. Like kids are _supposed_ to do.” Even back then you were already rebelling against the life you’d been born into.

 

Dean studied you for a moment before sighing and rolling his eyes. “We’ll leave in a couple hours.”

 

You’d jumped up on the bed with a whoop and threw your arms around Dean’s neck before he flipped you onto the mattress and tickled you until tears of laughter were running down your face.

 

~~~~~

 

It was the best night of your eleven-year old life.

 

Your every sense was bombarded the moment you walked onto the field. The entire small town’s population seemed to have turned out for the fair, talking and laughing as they mingled. Bright lights from the carnival rides blinked on and off, the smell of hot dogs and popcorn permeated the air. You couldn’t stop smiling.

 

Dean bought tickets and took you on the racing slides where you won by half a second, the Tilt-A-Whirl where he made it spin so fast you ended up plastered against his side, the ferris wheel where he slipped the carnie a couple bucks to stop your car at the top, and the Zipper where he flipped the car upside down so many times he made you dizzy.

 

You never stopped laughing. And Dean never stopped smiling down at you.

 

He bought you hot dogs and popcorn and cotton candy and ice cream. You knew you’d be sick but didn’t care. Because this… _this_ was what it was like to be _normal_ , to be a _kid_. Not Daddy’s little soldier. At least for one night.

 

You found a spot in the grass later on, off to the side of everyone else, laying on your backs, looking up at the sky as it lit up in bursts of red, white and blue. You turned your head to look at Dean as the fireworks lit up his features, open and relaxed. He felt your gaze on him and tipped his head, smiling at you. 

 

It was then you realized you’d fallen a little bit in love with your brother. It wasn’t until many years later that you’d fall completely in love with him.

 

“Thanks, Dean,” you said quietly, sincerely, as the fireworks continued on overhead.

 

He grinned again and knocked his shoulder against yours before looking back up to the sky. You thought they were the best fireworks ever, simply because your big brother was there with you to share it.

 

~~~~~

 

You were indeed sick as a dog in the middle of the night, hunched over the toilet, sweating and shaking. But Dean was right there on the floor beside you, rubbing your back, putting a cool washcloth on the back of your neck.

 

After he cleaned you up he let you crawl in bed with him, tucked up against his side, your small arm across his stomach.

 

Your eyes were drooping when you looked up at him, managing to smile and whisper, “Best night ever,” before falling asleep, held securely in Dean’s arms.

 

~~~~

 

Another colorful burst in the distance and you blink, coming out of your memory, a smile on your face. You look over at Dean, still smiling, and he furrows his brow in confusion.

 

“What the hell are you smiling about?”

 

You tilt your head out the window, toward the fireworks. “Nebraska,” you answer, making a quick decision as you see a small, grassy field on the side of the road, pulling the car over onto the shoulder.

 

You knock your hand against his arm. “C’mon,” you tell him, opening the door and getting out, going around back to the trunk. You rummage around inside until you come up with an old army blanket.

 

“Sam, what are you _doing?_ ” Dean asks, appearing next to you.

 

“Being a kid again,” you reply, walking out into the field with the blanket, hearing Dean’s footsteps follow behind a moment later.

 

You unfold the blanket and lay your long frame down on it’s scratchy fibers, watch as Dean lays down next to you with a sigh, finally able to stretch out his injured leg.

 

You watch the fireworks in easy silence, grateful for this small moment with your brother, able to just stop and rest both of your weary, battered bodies.

 

Dean tips his head toward yours, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “Nebraska, huh?”

 

You grin back at him. “Best night ever.”

 

Dean cocks an eyebrow. “Better than this?” he asks, rolling onto his side, reaching out for you.

 

You meet him halfway, his fingers sliding into your hair, cupping the back of your head, your hand splayed against his broad back. His lips are soft and warm against yours and he kisses you slow and deep and it’s fucking _perfect_. God, you’ve missed this, missed _him_. 

 

You can distantly hear the booms of the fireworks, see bright flashes behind your eyelids as you let yourself fall into Dean, flexing your fingers into the soft material of his t-shirt, wanting him closer, always closer.

 

He kisses you until you’re lightheaded, dizzy like on the Zipper so many years ago, then he pulls back, and you see everything you mean to him shining out of his green eyes. And you know your eyes are telling him the same thing right back.

 

He’s still your hero, your big brother, but now he’s so much more. 

 

“Happy 4th of July, Sammy,” Dean murmurs as he rolls you onto your back, covering your body with his own.

 

And he makes you see fireworks long after the display is over.

 

**THE END**


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